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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Earlier this week, I wrote about "Holiday Recipes," 1951 staplebound booklet from the Pittsburgh Group Companies of the Columbia Gas System. I asked which recipes you wanted me to share from the booklet, and here are your requests (plus one bonus recipe that I selected):

Method:
1. Mix together milk, sugar, shortening, salt, and cardamon.
2. Crumble yeast into mixture. Stir until yeast is dissolved.
3. Stir in unbeaten egg.
4. Beat flour and fruit into mixture until dough is not sticky.
5. Turn dough onto floured board, cover, and let stand 10 minutes to tighten up.
6. Knead lightly until smooth (this is a very soft dough).
7. Round up and place in greased bowl.
8. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in bulk, about 1½ hours.
9. Punch down dough; round up and set to rise again until not quite double in bulk, about 45 minutes.
10. Punch down dough. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.
11. Divide into two parts. Shape into two round loaves; place into 2 greased 9-inch pie pans.
12. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.
13. Bake at 350º F about 45 minutes.

The 500-acre tract, located west of Chicago, was the country estate of publisher/politician Joseph Medill in the 1800s. Medill's name for the estate was Red Oaks.

After Medill's death in 1899, Red Oaks was passed to McCormick, his grandson.

"Bertie" McCormick (1880–1955) spent the early part of his being raised in London, working as a lawyer and serving as editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune.

He worked as a war correspondent for the Tribune early in World War I, but then returned to the United States and joined the Illinois National Guard in 1916. By 1918, he was a full colonel in the field artillery for the U.S. Army.

In May 1918, he took part in the Battle of Cantigny, the first American offensive of the Great War. The attack was a success, but at the cost of 1,600 casualties (including 199 killed) for the Americans.

The battle left a lasting impact on Colonel McCormick, who changed the name of Red Oaks to Cantigny Farm after returning home.

Footnotes1. On its "About" page, Creepy Santa Photos includes the following disclaimer: "Don’t let our *CREEPY* name fool you. We are in no way suggesting any person or Santa Claus featured on this website is creepy, a creep, or a bad person in any way! We do our best to keep the humor light and non-offensive. The origin of the name, 'Creepy Santa Photos' arrived from Googling several phrases. People worldwide simply prefer the term 'Creepy Santa' to find photos than they do 'Scary', 'Silly', or other such descriptors." So there.
2. Joan and I found this photo on The Santa Blog to be extremely disturbing.

Monday, December 10, 2012

When I worked at The York Dispatch in the mid-1990s, the newspaper invited its youngest readers to write stories about the holiday season. Many turned in tales about catching a peek at Santa on Christmas Eve or visiting the North Pole or discovering what the spirit of Christmas is truly about.

I saved excerpts of some of the kids' most humorous submissions. Here they are, for your enjoyment this afternoon:

"How do reindeer fly? Do they need special rabbit food?"

"Santa needs a brand new bag. Because somebody stole it."

"What is misoltoe? Do you have to kiss if you stand under it? Will dirt fall on you?"

"When Santa got back to the North Pole, he was so tired. He layed on the couch and watched an hour of football. The Eagles vs. the 49ers. He wished that there was a North Pole team."

"Once upon a time Santa Claus had a problem. His reindeer were dead."

"When it was Christmas, my sister got the chicken pox under her nose and it look like bugger."

"Once upon a time there was a boy named Elfis."

And this short-story submission, penned by a third-grader, was my favorite:

Christmas Toys

There once was a santa who never brought clothes.
On Christmas he only brought toys.
He had brought toys that kids didn't ask for.
He had not even brought the toys that kids asked for.
Sometimes he had even missed kids that were on his list.
He did not check for naughty kids, bad kids, and good kids.
The kids told the police.
Santa said "I must of missed them."

"Holiday Recipes" is a staplebound booklet that was published in 1951 by the Home Economics Department1 of Pittsburgh Group Companies of the Columbia Gas System.2

The preface, which is filled with Gratuitous Capitalization, states:

"Here are some suggestions for the simplest Yuletide Teen-Age Get Togethers to the most elaborate round of Eggnog Parties. We've included our favorite Christmas Recipes and hope that soon they will become yours.

"May the fragrance of Holiday baking and the rush and excitement of Holiday preparations combine with all the cheer and good will that Christmas inspires to make this the merriest of Holidays."

Here's a list of some of the many recipes that are included in the 24-page booklet. Let me know in the Comments section which ones interest you most, and I'll share a few later this week — in plenty of time for you to whip them up for your Yuletide Teen-Age Get Togethers.

Footnotes1. Yes, I agree that it's kind of a disturbing for the gas company to have a home economics department.
2. The "Pittsburgh Group Companies" were The Manufacturers Light and Heat Company, Natural Gas Company of West Virginia, Cumberland and Allegheny Gas Company, The Keystone Gas Company Inc., and Binghamton Gas Works.
3. I was just telling my family that you don't see popcorn balls any more these days. But I'm kind of nostalgic for them, although we all agree that the memories are probably better than the actual taste.
4. Go ahead and request this one. I guarantee you will be underwhelmed.
5. Warning: Contains gelatin.

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About the Author

I'm Chris Otto, a Pennsylvania resident and journalist whose hobbies and interests include old books, ephemera, history, folklore, alpacas, photography and much more. Never stop reading, learning and asking questions! I consider this blog to be a spiritual descendant of Microsoft Encarta and a companion to Wikipedia. Every piece of paper tells a story.
Reach me at chrisottopa (at) gmail.com.

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